It was bath time at the Beren’s home and as usual John and Christie were complaining about having to take a bath. “I hate taking baths!” said John. “Me too!” Christie added. “They always interrupt what we love doing”. But both kids got their baths and were glad they had a little time left to play. Then mom called them to the family room. “It is time for family devotions” she said. “Oh mom!” whined Christie. “Do we have to? I want to work on my crossword puzzle.” Why do we have to have devotions every single day anyway”? complained John. “It takes up so much time”! “It is interesting that you should ask”. Mother replied. “Because the verses I was planning to read talk about that”. She opened the bible to Psalm 119 and read verse 9. “How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word and following its rules”. “That is good advice. We need to keep our lives clean as well as our bodies”. Said dad. “The bible tells us how God wants us to live, and it helps us to see the dirty spots of sin in our life. We could say God’s word is like a mirror to help us see where we need washing”. “And confessing sin through prayer is like soap making dirt come loose” suggested Christie. “And God’s forgiveness is like water rinsing away all the dirt or sin” finished John.
Whipping Boy
"The Whipping Boy". Keeshan read the title of the book mom had brought from the library. "Mom, what is a whipping boy"? He asked. Mom smiled. "I didn't know that myself", she told him,"but look......here on the back cover it says that royal families used 'Whipping boys'. It says it's a boy who was educated with a prince and punished in his place". Keeshan frowned. "You mean he was punished for the wrong things the price did? I bet that made him mad! I wonder if the boy in the story ran away", said Keeshan. "I don't think so", said mom. "According to the description on the cover of the book, this story is about a boy who offered to take the place of one who deserved to be punished". "Who would do that"? exclaimed Keeshan. "it's so unfair". "Yes", agreed mom. "But I know someone who had so much love for others that, he volunteered to become a whipping boy". Keeshan stared at his mom to see if she was serious. "I thought that was something people did long ago". he said. "Who do you know who did that"? "I was thinking of Jesus", answered mom quietly. "The Bible doesn't use the words 'whipping boy' but I think of what did jesus did for us. He willingly went to the cross and died for us because he loved us so, didn't he"? "That's right"! exclaimed Keeshan. "Jesus wasn't just whipped for our sins, he died on a cross for us bcause he lovesd us, didn't he"? Mom nodded. "And that means we can be forgiven and go to live with him in Heaven", she said. "How we should thank him that he cared that much about us! And how we should show our appreciation by living to please him"!
Prayer
John 15:7 - "If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask whatever ye will, and it shall be done unto you"
We hear it said that a man will suffer in his life if he does not pray. I question it. Prayer is an interruption to personal ambition, and no man who is busy has time to pray. what will suffer is the life of God in him, which is not nourished by food but by prayer.
If we look at prayer as a means of developing ourselves, there is nothing in it at all, nor do we find that idea of prayer in the Bible. Prayer is other than meditation; it is that which develops the life of god in us. When a man is born from above, the life of the Son of God begins in him, and he can either starve that life or nourish it. Prayer is the way the life of God is nourished. Our Lord nourished the life of God in him by prayer; he was continually in contact with his father. We generally look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves, whereas the Bible idea of prayer is that God's holiness and God's purpose and God's wise order may be brought about, irrespective of who comes or who goes. Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament.
Believe it, Live it, Say it.
“We are His witnesses” Acts 5:32
If we are to be effective witnesses for Christ, we must have not only a firsthand experience of His saving power in his own lives, but a sense of certainty about our salvation. There are many people who are really saved, but are not sure of it. One day they think they are; another day they fear they are not. D. L. Moody used to call “they lack the assurance of faith”. Sometimes trusting, sometimes doubting, they never know real “Joy and Peace” in Christ such as we read in Romans 15:13. There used to be a saying “The Blood makes me safe: The Word makes us safe”. How true that is! A wonderful spiritual revival once broke out in a large Theological Seminary. It started with the students singing dismal dirges such as this:
“Tis a point I long to know;
Oft it causeth anxious thought;
Do I love the lord, or no?
Am I saved, or am I not?
But when the revival had swept through their midst they started singing exultations such as:
“Tis, the great transaction’s done!
I am my Lord’s, and He is mine.
He drew me, and I followed on,
Charmed to confess the voice divine.
If we are among the doubting Thomases, let us beg the dear Lord to help us fling our doubts to the moles and the bats. We are to witness for Christ by our lives. Our words must be backed by our ways. There must also be the witness of the lips. Let us pray with the psalmist: “O Lord, open thou my lips” (Psalms 51:15)
But we do not know
“If thou hadst known” Luke 19:42
Still continuing our animadversions on “If we but knew”, we may also relate it to our ignorance of tomorrow. Again and again, if we knew what tomorrow is bringing, how differently we would live today! Only last week a colleague was telling me of a minister who went playing golf with a man whom he was anxious to win for Christ. This minister felt strangely constrained to raise again the matter of salvation, as the two of them played golf. They sat down to rest at one point, and the golf companion said “I have known for some time that I ought to accept Christ as my saviour, but I will tell you what: as soon as this game of golf is over, I will seriously think of doing it? So saying, he rose to resume the game: but just as he did so, a misdirected golf ball came whizzing through the air and struck him right in the temple, killing him instantly! Oh if I had only known! What of you and me? Shall we listen and learn? If we knew all the immense issues of eternity, how differently would many of us use time! The greatest regrets in that solemn hour will be – (1.) To have known the gospel yet rejected the saviour. (2.) To have known the saviour yet never have sought to win another to the saviour, Lord Jesus. Chosen Generation
“You are a chosen generation….that you should shewforth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” 1 Peter 2:9
Imitation is one of the first reactions of a child, it is not sinful. We come to a right knowledge of ourselves by imitating others. The instinct that makes us afraid of being odd is not a cowardly instinct, it is the only power of self-preservation we have. If you live much by yourself you become an oddity, you never see the quirks yourself. Some people won’t live with others spiritually; they live in holes and corners by themselves. The New Testament warns of those who ‘separate themselves’ (Jude 19) by the grace of god we are taken out of the fashion we were in and we become more or less speckled birds. Immediately you introduce a standard of imitation which the set to which you belong does not recognise, you will experience what Peter says, ‘They think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot’ (1 Peter 4:4). The spirit of God lifts the natural reaction of imitation into another domain and by God’s grace we begin to imitate our Lord and shewforth his praises. It is the natural instinct of a child to imitate his mother, and when we are born again the Holy Spirit lift this instinct into the spiritual domain and it becomes the most super naturally natural thing for us to imitate our Lord. We grow in grace naturally, not artificially. Mimicking is the counterfeit of imitation and produces the ‘Pi’ person, one who tries his level best to be what he, is not. When you are good you never try to be. It is natural to be like the one we live with most; then if we spend most of our time with Jesus Christ, we shall begin to be like him, by the way we are built naturally and by the spirit God puts us in.
05 Dec 2010 Auckland
Lost! Who? How?
“For the Son of Man is came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). The word “Lost” usually excites pity or alarm or grief. Even a lost dog gains our ready pity. A lost child stirs us up to deep concern. If we hear that a ship has been lost with all on board, or that lives have been lost in a mine disaster, instantly we feel alarm and grief. Yet what are the greatest physical losses compared with the loss of the SOUL? Think what it means to be a lost soul? It means lost to fellowship with God. Does someone exclaim “why, fellowship with god is something far removed from most people’s mind”? How strange we should think it if growing children who had been well fed, well clothed, well cared for in every way, and surrounded by sympathetic parental love, should all the while be shiftily evading their parents, and at the very earliest opportunity hive away from them and push them entirely out of thought? Yet that is how human beings in general treat the great heavenly parent; and does it not indicate strangest alienation? But it also means ‘Lost to life’s highest purpose’. Did God allow any of us to be born without some special purpose in view? Has God endured our nature with intellect, conscience and free will, only to leave us as wisps of meaningless consciousness blown about by blind chance? “No”, say the birds of the heaven and the stars of the sky. “No”, says the whole well ordered universe. “No”, says the written word of God; there is a purpose for each of us as truly as for Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5). But sin has driven a deep, wide wedge between God’s will and man’s; so that instead of finding heart satisfying consummation of our human personalities, we spend ourselves on the merely temporal, and then die saying “Vanity of Vanities”, all is vanity”? Life has no real purpose apart from God. To be “Lost” is therefore to be lost to life’s highest purpose. May we know the saviour, do all we can to arouse them, and bring them to the Saviour!
Contributed by Uncle Rama RaoClean Inside Out
It was bath time at the Beren’s home and as usual John and Christie were complaining about having to take a bath. “I hate taking baths!” said John. “Me too!” Christie added. “They always interrupt what we love doing”. But both kids got their baths and were glad they had a little time left to play. Then mom called them to the family room. “It is time for family devotions” she said. “Oh mom!” whined Christie. “Do we have to? I want to work on my crossword puzzle.” Why do we have to have devotions every single day anyway”? complained John. “It takes up so much time”! “It is interesting that you should ask”. Mother replied. “Because the verses I was planning to read talk about that”. She opened the bible to Psalm 119 and read verse 9. “How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word and following its rules”. “That is good advice. We need to keep our lives clean as well as our bodies”. Said dad. “The bible tells us how God wants us to live, and it helps us to see the dirty spots of sin in our life. We could say God’s word is like a mirror to help us see where we need washing”. “And confessing sin through prayer is like soap making dirt come loose” suggested Christie. “And God’s forgiveness is like water rinsing away all the dirt or sin” finished John.Whipping Boy
"The Whipping Boy". Keeshan read the title of the book mom had brought from the library. "Mom, what is a whipping boy"? He asked. Mom smiled. "I didn't know that myself", she told him,"but look......here on the back cover it says that royal families used 'Whipping boys'. It says it's a boy who was educated with a prince and punished in his place". Keeshan frowned. "You mean he was punished for the wrong things the price did? I bet that made him mad! I wonder if the boy in the story ran away", said Keeshan. "I don't think so", said mom. "According to the description on the cover of the book, this story is about a boy who offered to take the place of one who deserved to be punished". "Who would do that"? exclaimed Keeshan. "it's so unfair". "Yes", agreed mom. "But I know someone who had so much love for others that, he volunteered to become a whipping boy". Keeshan stared at his mom to see if she was serious. "I thought that was something people did long ago". he said. "Who do you know who did that"? "I was thinking of Jesus", answered mom quietly. "The Bible doesn't use the words 'whipping boy' but I think of what did jesus did for us. He willingly went to the cross and died for us because he loved us so, didn't he"? "That's right"! exclaimed Keeshan. "Jesus wasn't just whipped for our sins, he died on a cross for us bcause he lovesd us, didn't he"? Mom nodded. "And that means we can be forgiven and go to live with him in Heaven", she said. "How we should thank him that he cared that much about us! And how we should show our appreciation by living to please him"!Prayer
John 15:7 - "If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask whatever ye will, and it shall be done unto you"We hear it said that a man will suffer in his life if he does not pray. I question it. Prayer is an interruption to personal ambition, and no man who is busy has time to pray. what will suffer is the life of God in him, which is not nourished by food but by prayer.
If we look at prayer as a means of developing ourselves, there is nothing in it at all, nor do we find that idea of prayer in the Bible. Prayer is other than meditation; it is that which develops the life of god in us. When a man is born from above, the life of the Son of God begins in him, and he can either starve that life or nourish it. Prayer is the way the life of God is nourished. Our Lord nourished the life of God in him by prayer; he was continually in contact with his father. We generally look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves, whereas the Bible idea of prayer is that God's holiness and God's purpose and God's wise order may be brought about, irrespective of who comes or who goes. Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament.
Believe it, Live it, Say it.
“We are His witnesses” Acts 5:32If we are to be effective witnesses for Christ, we must have not only a firsthand experience of His saving power in his own lives, but a sense of certainty about our salvation. There are many people who are really saved, but are not sure of it. One day they think they are; another day they fear they are not. D. L. Moody used to call “they lack the assurance of faith”. Sometimes trusting, sometimes doubting, they never know real “Joy and Peace” in Christ such as we read in Romans 15:13. There used to be a saying “The Blood makes me safe: The Word makes us safe”. How true that is! A wonderful spiritual revival once broke out in a large Theological Seminary. It started with the students singing dismal dirges such as this:
“Tis a point I long to know;
Oft it causeth anxious thought;
Do I love the lord, or no?
Am I saved, or am I not?
But when the revival had swept through their midst they started singing exultations such as:
“Tis, the great transaction’s done!
I am my Lord’s, and He is mine.
He drew me, and I followed on,
Charmed to confess the voice divine.
If we are among the doubting Thomases, let us beg the dear Lord to help us fling our doubts to the moles and the bats. We are to witness for Christ by our lives. Our words must be backed by our ways. There must also be the witness of the lips. Let us pray with the psalmist: “O Lord, open thou my lips” (Psalms 51:15)
But we do not know
“If thou hadst known” Luke 19:42
Still continuing our animadversions on “If we but knew”, we may also relate it to our ignorance of tomorrow. Again and again, if we knew what tomorrow is bringing, how differently we would live today! Only last week a colleague was telling me of a minister who went playing golf with a man whom he was anxious to win for Christ. This minister felt strangely constrained to raise again the matter of salvation, as the two of them played golf. They sat down to rest at one point, and the golf companion said “I have known for some time that I ought to accept Christ as my saviour, but I will tell you what: as soon as this game of golf is over, I will seriously think of doing it? So saying, he rose to resume the game: but just as he did so, a misdirected golf ball came whizzing through the air and struck him right in the temple, killing him instantly! Oh if I had only known! What of you and me? Shall we listen and learn? If we knew all the immense issues of eternity, how differently would many of us use time! The greatest regrets in that solemn hour will be – (1.) To have known the gospel yet rejected the saviour. (2.) To have known the saviour yet never have sought to win another to the saviour, Lord Jesus.
Chosen Generation
“You are a chosen generation….that you should shewforth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” 1 Peter 2:9
Imitation is one of the first reactions of a child, it is not sinful. We come to a right knowledge of ourselves by imitating others. The instinct that makes us afraid of being odd is not a cowardly instinct, it is the only power of self-preservation we have. If you live much by yourself you become an oddity, you never see the quirks yourself. Some people won’t live with others spiritually; they live in holes and corners by themselves. The New Testament warns of those who ‘separate themselves’ (Jude 19) by the grace of god we are taken out of the fashion we were in and we become more or less speckled birds. Immediately you introduce a standard of imitation which the set to which you belong does not recognise, you will experience what Peter says, ‘They think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot’ (1 Peter 4:4). The spirit of God lifts the natural reaction of imitation into another domain and by God’s grace we begin to imitate our Lord and shewforth his praises. It is the natural instinct of a child to imitate his mother, and when we are born again the Holy Spirit lift this instinct into the spiritual domain and it becomes the most super naturally natural thing for us to imitate our Lord. We grow in grace naturally, not artificially. Mimicking is the counterfeit of imitation and produces the ‘Pi’ person, one who tries his level best to be what he, is not. When you are good you never try to be. It is natural to be like the one we live with most; then if we spend most of our time with Jesus Christ, we shall begin to be like him, by the way we are built naturally and by the spirit God puts us in.
05 Dec 2010 Auckland
Lost! Who? How?
“For the Son of Man is came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). The word “Lost” usually excites pity or alarm or grief. Even a lost dog gains our ready pity. A lost child stirs us up to deep concern. If we hear that a ship has been lost with all on board, or that lives have been lost in a mine disaster, instantly we feel alarm and grief. Yet what are the greatest physical losses compared with the loss of the SOUL? Think what it means to be a lost soul? It means lost to fellowship with God. Does someone exclaim “why, fellowship with god is something far removed from most people’s mind”? How strange we should think it if growing children who had been well fed, well clothed, well cared for in every way, and surrounded by sympathetic parental love, should all the while be shiftily evading their parents, and at the very earliest opportunity hive away from them and push them entirely out of thought? Yet that is how human beings in general treat the great heavenly parent; and does it not indicate strangest alienation? But it also means ‘Lost to life’s highest purpose’. Did God allow any of us to be born without some special purpose in view? Has God endured our nature with intellect, conscience and free will, only to leave us as wisps of meaningless consciousness blown about by blind chance? “No”, say the birds of the heaven and the stars of the sky. “No”, says the whole well ordered universe. “No”, says the written word of God; there is a purpose for each of us as truly as for Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5). But sin has driven a deep, wide wedge between God’s will and man’s; so that instead of finding heart satisfying consummation of our human personalities, we spend ourselves on the merely temporal, and then die saying “Vanity of Vanities”, all is vanity”? Life has no real purpose apart from God. To be “Lost” is therefore to be lost to life’s highest purpose. May we know the saviour, do all we can to arouse them, and bring them to the Saviour!